Toyota is entering a hydrogen-powered Corolla into an endurance racing series this year and a video of what the engine will sound like has been released.
Toyota has said that the Corolla will race in the Super Taikyu Series and is powered by a modified version of the inline-three cylinder turbocharged engine that will doubtless be familiar to fans of the GR Yaris. The difference is that, in this application, it blows up compressed hydrogen instead of pump gas.
Bassier and throatier than you might have expected, the tenor of the engine may come down to hydrogen being more combustible than regular fuel.
Read More: Toyota Has Modified A GR Yaris Engine To Run On Hydrogen For Endurance Racing
Toyota said in a press release earlier this month that the engine is more responsive. According to the driver of this Corolla, though, it’s not a huge change.
“It’s not as different as I had expected,” he says in the video. “It feels like a normal engine.”
Indeed, the process of fuel going into a cylinder, being compressed, and exploding is pretty similar to a regular engine, but the explosion generates no CO2. A little bit of oil does get consumed in the process and NOx is emitted, but it’s still a big improvement over petroleum-based fuels.
This Corolla will be raced by the ORC ROOKIE Racing team and will enter its first event next month in the NAPAC Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours Race on May 21-23.
Toyota says that this is one of the technologies it is researching with a view to achieving carbon neutrality. Through motorsport, the company says it hopes to create a hydrogen-based society.